The Two Colonels
The Two Colonels is a story DLC for Metro Exodus that is part of the Expansion Pass. It takes place in the Novosibirsk Metro before the arrival of the Aurora Crew and follows the story of Colonel Khlebnikov. The story provides more details about the fall of Novosibirsk. The Two Colonels was released on the 20th August 2019, as announced at Gamescom a day previously. Official Description Just below the surface, under the dead city of Novosibirsk, Colonel Khlebnikov makes his way home to his son, Kirill, for New Years Eve. But all is not well with the people here: the slime is further consuming the tunnels, mutant attacks appear to be on the rise and the precious ‘green stuff’ that protects the people from radiation poisoning is running low. In order to secure the survival of any of the people, those in charge may need to take drastic measures… Following the journey and experiences of Khlebnikov during the last days of life in Novosibirsk, retraced by Colonel Miller a year later, players can expect the classic story-driven gameplay of the Metro series in this new linear chapter, complete with a brand new weapon, the deadly flame-thrower, claustrophobic environments, and the all-too-familiar hair-raising tension. Plot and Setting The Two Colonels takes place in Novosibirsk, mainly in its Metro system but during its finale, the player also visits the surface and an abandoned satellite command center. The player witnessess the story the way Kirill tells it to Miller after Artyom leaves Kirill's hideout in order to find the cure for Anna (this was included in the base game's level The Dead City). The story is divided into several sections which take place 12, 6, 3 and 1 month before the Aurora arrives to Novosibirsk. In all parts, the player plays as Colonel Khlebnikov, Kirill's father and a high-ranking OSKOM member. The first part takes place in December 2034. Khlebnikov is tasked with clearing out a section of Novosibirsk Metro infested with slime and Worms in order to restore a function of an important water pump. Khlebnikov is well equipped for this task, as he carries a Flamethrower and also a special enclosed suit. After burning his way through a lot of slime and worms, he and his men manage to get the pump back online. Khlebnikov then returns to his home station to meet General Vinogradov and later he celebrates New Year's Eve with his son, Kirill. Second part takes place six months later. Tension starts to rise in the Metro, as the supplies of Radioprotector are thinning and OSKOM starts to decrease rations of the drug and also confiscates any excess supplies they find, even those that were obtained legally. Khlebnikov is odered to secure one such supply, which, as he finds out, is in posession of his old friend, Petrovich, who has been saving the drug for his sick graddaughter. The player is presented with a moral choice - they can either confiscate the drug, betraying Khlebnikov's friend and leaving him shocked and furious, or secretly allow him to keep it. The choice doesn't impact the story, just the dialogue between Khlebnikov and Petrovich. During this time, Kirill also starts questioning himself whether OSKOM are really the heroes he envisioned them to be, as he sees the cruelties comitted by them on regular Metro citzizens. Khlebnikov explains to his son that sometimes, difficult situations require difficult choices and that his and OSKOM's actions will eventually prove to be necessary. General Vinogradov also reveals to Khlebnikov that there are plans for an evacuation of the Metro, but there might not be enough Radioprotector to evacuate all people, at least not all at once. The situation becomes unmanageable three months later. Massive riots arise in the Metro and Khlebnikov is tasked with preventing the rioters from reaching Sibirskaya station, an OSKOM headquarters, by any means necessary. He and his men try to blow up the tunnels leading to Sibirskaya in order to block the access route for the rioters, but one charge fails to detonate so OSKOM members are forced to fall back. Eventually, they barely stop the rioters at the escalators and for a brief moment, the situation seems to have turned in their favor. However, a chlorine gas is released, killing most of the remaining OSKOM members, save for Khlebnikov. He rushes up the escalator where he finds General Vinogradov. Khlebnikov is furious to find out that Vinogradov initiated the gas attack, seeing him as a traitor, however, Vinogradov receives a message that the highest OSKOM officials are leaving Novosibirsk at the moment, leaving Khlebnikov and Vinogradov behind, betraying them both. The two realize that they themselves have always been just insignificant pawns in the entire evacuation process and were not supposed to be evacuated with the rest of the officials, so Vinogradov orders his remaining men to destroy the evacuation train with an RPG and commits suicide. This leaves Khlebnikov and his son one of the few surviving people in Novosibirsk Metro, if not the only ones. One month before the arrival of the Aurora, Khlebnikov visits an abandoned satellite control center in the ruins of Novosibirsk. From his conversations with Vinogradov, he knows that there should be maps showing radiation levels in Russia and that the area around Lake Baikal might be radiation-free. If that proves to be true, Khlebnikov and his son could leave the irradiated city and find a new home. The facility is very dangerous, as despite being underground, its nuclear reactor is damaged, filling the control center with very high levels of radiation, even for Novosibirsk. This also causes power shortages, so Khlebnikov is slowed down several times by malfunctioning doors and other systems. The facility is also inhabited by mutants, mainly the Nosalis. When Khlebnikov gets close to the map depository, a Blind One appears and attacks him. Khlebnikov later escapes the Blind One through an elevator shaft, letting his flamethrower's tank explode beforehand to stun or possibly kill the mutated ape. Khlebnikov gets to the depository, find the map he was looking for and proceeds further, but the radiation is so high that he starts to feel sick and has to slow down. Furthermore, the Blind One appears again. Khlebnikov is able to outrun him and prepares to inject his last Radioprotector to counteract the radiation sickness, but the Blind One grabs his leg through a reinforced door and makes him drop the injector. Khlebnikov disengages the door's manual control, severing the Blind One's arm and thus breaking free, but then he finds out that the vial with Radioprotector was broken by the impact so there is no way for him to survive the radiation exposure for much longer. He starts to lose his consciousness and sits on a chair where he faints and eventually passes away. A month later, Khlebnikov's body is found by Miller, as Kirill tells the Ranger about the facility and Miller goes there to find the map Khlebnikov was looking for. As Khlebnikov brought the map close to the entrace, Miller is able to retreive it and bring it back to Kirill and Artyom without spending too much time in the irradiated complex, though, as the player knows from the base game, he also receives a lethal dose of radiation, which could only be counteracted by a Radioprotector, but Miller sacrifices himself by using his dose to save Artyom instead. Gameplay The Two Colonels is a linear chapter without the open-world aspects of the base game and with only limited crafting options. The player can not use a Gas Mask, Flashlight and other pieces of equipment known from the base game. Only three weapons are available, a Flamethrower and later a Kalash and an Ashot. The Flamethrower is a new weapon which comes with its own set of upgrades, allowing the player to modify its pneumatic mechanism and increase magazine size. Other than that, no new gameplay mechanics are included. The entire chapter takes approximately 2 to 2,5 hours to complete on Normal difficulty. The main focus of the DLC is its storytelling aspect, which allows the player to learn more about the situation at Novosibirsk which was only briefly explained in the base game. Reception On Steam, the DLC has received very positive reviews with many players praising its story as the strongest part of the DLC. The criticism was mostly related to the length of the chapter (players would like it to be longer) and some technical difficulties (on Steam, some players reported repeated crashes while on Epic Games Store, there was a problem with buying the DLC during its first days, with some players and Youtubers claiming that the game behaves as if the DLC wasn't owned, even though the Store section claims it's been already bought). Achievements and Trophies The DLC includes 8 new achievements/trophies which are worth 200 Gamerscore, or 1 Gold Trophy and 7 Bronze Trophies, in total. Collectibles In this DLC, there are a total of 9 diary pages that can be collected. The DLC is very linear, so the notes have to be collected in the order presented. *Foreman's diary 1 - Right after you clear the first hallway of slime, the diary will be lying on a desk right in front of you after you go through the door at the end of the hallway. *Foreman's diary 2 - Making your way through a large, flooded room, you will be forced to shut a valve and then burn slime off a ladder. Climbing the ladder will take you into a room with the level's first workbench. Upon entering the room, go into a hallway to your left. The diary will be inside the locker at the end of the hallway. A tape can also be found here. *Worker's note - After passing the second workbench, you will have to pass through a narrow hallway. Immediately after kicking open the door, look for an opening to your immediate left (a worm will likely crawl out of it). The note will be sitting on a console, along with some flamer fuel. *Trader's note - After talking to General Vinogradov, you will have to go though an elevated train car. The note is inside, on a shelf right next to the bar. *Letter - After searching Petrovich's home, you will be able to collect the letter from the market stand sitting right across from his place. *Investigation report - Right after starting the level where you defend Sibirskaya, you will go through a civilian shelter, at the end of which a soldier will open a door for you. Before going through, grab the report from the desk on your left. *Stalker's diary 1 - Right after you enter the SatCom center and go down the stairs, you will see the diary lying on the floor. *Stalker's diary 2 - Shortly after restoring power to the building, you will go do down a hallway and into a room to your right. At the other end of the room you will go up a platform with a console, on which you can find the diary. *Stalker's diary 3 - After fighting the blind one and falling down an elevator shaft, walk up the scaffolding to your immediate right. The note will be on the ground, right in front of the tunnel. Gallery ME_The_Two_Colonels_Official_Screenshot.jpg|Kirill gives his father a watch as a present during New Year's Eve. ME_The_Two_Colonels_Official_Screenshot-1.jpg|General Vinogradov in his office. ME_The_Two_Colonels_Official_Screenshot-3.jpg|Miller finds an empty vial of Radioprotector near Sibirskaya station. ME Screenshot TTC Flamethrower Riot.jpg|The riots near Sibirskaya. ME_The_Two_Colonels_Official_Screenshot-5.jpg|Miller contacts Kirill with a radio before entering the satellite command center, just as Kirill's father did a month ago. ru:Два полковника Category:DLC Category:Metro Exodus Category:Levels Category:Metro Exodus Levels